Yesterday we got around to stacking all of that firewood we got last week…

And then we covered it up so it’s nice and dry.

That’s an eight foot rack and we’re definitely going to need another, we hardly put a dent in that ginormous pile.

Earlier in the day we made a trip to Lowe’s for a wheel barrow and found some fireplace tools we actually liked.  They’re from the Allen + Roth line which is always so good to me.  I’m pretty sure I love all of their stuff.

They’re actually the bronzey-brown color I was hoping to paint the slate.  So with all of the materials we needed plus a chilly night, we were able to light our first fire in the new house.

It wasn’t exactly roaring at this point, but you get the idea 🙂  And the house still smells so wonderful!

Before we even bought this house, I knew wanted to get a rainbow of mums to put on either side of our steps in the fall. Like a gradient of yellow, orange, red and purple. So one day a few weeks ago, we set out to the garden center to pick some up. When we got there, there was no shortage of mums, but they were in pumpkin or otherwise fall themed pots. Really I’m not a scrooge, I have just never been a fan of those type of holiday decorations. So I searched for other pots, with no luck. I knew we’d be busy the next couple of weekends, so I thought my mum dreams would have to wait another year and we’d live with our sad spring/summer leftovers.

Then! I went to the Crate & Barrel outlet sale over the weekend and scored some awesome, year round Soleil Planters.

I also picked up this bird because it was $5 and it was adorable. Mike said he only agreed because it was $5. The bird has nothing to do with this post but I saw it on the website and had to brag about getting it.

I only bought 2 pots because I didn’t want a bunch of the same one and I figured I’d just accumulate pots I randomly find places. So I decided to get just 2 mums for my pots to put by my door, since Mike and I agreed after planting and mulching during the hottest summer ever, we were done planting for the year.

Fast forward to Wednesday when our floors were done being installed a little early, so I decided I’d go get my 2 mums. Driving there I thought of those 4 dead zinnias in a row and how I should reeeally put mums there. Then I remembered the blood, sweat, tears and more sweat that went into planting them, but that didn’t stop me. I ended up getting 8 mums, knowing Mike was not home to help me, I was overtired and I had sawdust and an office to clean.

Turns out it only took me an hour or so to make the house fall ready. I planted the mums…

Then I arranged some pumpkins we got from the farm…

Hung the Harvest Wreath from Crate and Barrel…I know, I know, I could have made one for much less! But it’s already October and my free time these days is minimal…

I also bought the wreath hook from Crate and Barrel… I know, I know I could have saved myself the $10, but it matches our door quite well and will be used for other seasons…

To save a little dough, I passed up the Crate and Barrel doormats and instead went to my usual doormat stop- Target.

And tada! House was fall-ified in a little more than an hour.

The only thing I didn’t do was get some fall pillows for the brown chairs on the porch. If I ever pulled out my sewing machine I would make some. Definitely a revision to make for next year, when I hope to do this in September…

The very first project I tackled after moving in was to do something with this awful mailbox the builder gave us.

I just could not stand the font of the numbers and the fact that both the mailbox and the post were white. Where’s the contrast? So uninteresting!

So I decided I was going to paint it and change the numbers. Lucky for me, Lowe’s had some house numbers in a font that I actually liked for a couple of bucks each (I am extremely font-picky and swore I’d have to order some online). I also picked up a can of spray paint in a dark brown color to match our doors and shutters.

First, I unscrewed the very dirty mailbox and wiped it down (the thing was covered in orangey construction dirt). I also popped off the red mailbox “flag”….

Then I started to spray paint…

First coat….

Then second coat…

Then time to dry….

I then unscrewed the existing numbers to put on our pretty new ones!

There are no pictures of me with drill in hand 🙁

Then I snapped the red mailbox “flag”, arm thingy back on, screwed the mailbox back into place and tada! The finished product!

It was such an easy and inexpensive fix that helped our mailbox better compliment our house and stand out from the neighbors (we all got the same one). It is now very easy to give directions since we’re the only people on the block with a brown mailbox!

ps- These pictures were taken back in April, before we had sod, neighbors and when the street was very much a construction zone. I plan on posting an updated view from the street soon, since the final house on our street was recently completed 🙂

pps- I’m linking this post up to Thrifty Decor Chick’s spray paint party. Go check out some good spray paint makeovers!

I threw my sister-in-law a baby shower this past Saturday.  I have a little niece on the way, so she requested a pink and brown theme.  I did not want to just pick up those horrid decorations from the party store, so I had to do a little thinking as to how to pull this off.  I have never been in charge of shower design and I have definitely never thrown a baby shower!  I had some ideas in mind, but the execution happened on a whim and with some prayer.

I bought these inexpensive vases (in 2 heights) at Michael’s and wrapped them in various ribbon from Walmart.  I taped the ribbon on since I planned to give them to guests to take home afterwards.  The stuffed lion is from Home Goods.  This display was on the corner of the bar and the mirrored version (with stuffed giraffe) was on the opposite corner.  I forgot my camera that day and am limited to the pictures I snapped with my iPhone to send my husband.

There were 4 rectangular tables which I covered with brown plastic table cloths from Party City (they were a whole $2!).  I then put either a hot pink or light pink “runner” made with another plastic table cloth that was folded (or not completely unfolded).  I knew I wanted this look and it was so incredibly easy to get.  I feared I would have to trim table cloths, so I bought a few extras.

For the flowers I followed a simple rule: either all one bloom or all one color.  I also made sure all of the leaves were removed from the stem and that the blooms sat just nicely above the rim.  I don’t like filler flowers, mixed bouquets, or long stems… but that’s just my personal taste.  I used some shorter vases also from Michael’s, wrapped in a single strand of ribbon and alternated between hot pink flowers on the pale pink runners and light pink flowers on the hot pink runners.  My flower philosophy goes something like this… I am no botanist, I don’t know what 75% of them are named, but I know what looks good.  The hot pink/white baby’s breath things I have never seen before, but I loved.  They really looked great paired with the light pink daisies.  All of the flowers came from the “build your own bouquet” section of my local supermarket.  They were 3 bouquets for $10.

Overall I was very happy with how everything turned out, despite the fact that I have no photos of the gift table.  The caterer even contributed these adorable menu signs for the buffet….

I gave most of the vases to guests at the end of the shower, but the lower ones would be a great storage solution for a little girl’s hair accessories, jewelry, etc…especially with some fun ribbon attached!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am completely in love with my pets.  In May 2008, I suddenly lost the 2 year old love of my life, Sunny.  He was a bright orange lovable fluff of a former stray kitten, and one of the greatest living things I have ever encountered.

Ever since I met him, I have a new appreciation for the color orange.  I feel like if I put a little touch of it here or there, it is a little tribute to him and has a secret meaning to me.  It all started with our wedding favors, for which we made a donation in Sunny’s honor, but were originally going to give some homemade cookies for our guests to go home with.  We decided that bright orange M&Ms would be a more fitting tribute, though our color scheme was purple and green.

I tend to favor cool color schemes… I never wear red, orange, pink or yellow because they just aren’t flattering on me.  I was once told that how people dress tells a lot about how they decorate their house.  I guess this tends to be true for me as well!  But I’ve decided that in my outdoor space or even in my landscaping, I want to throw in some bright orange for Sunny.  My brother has kindly given us a large yellow umbrella of his that I fell in love with last summer.  I’ve been wanting to take my favorite color, purple, it’s compliment, orange and some yellow and make a playful, yet classy outdoor setting.

Leave it to Crate & Barrel to read my mind.  They recently added some new outdoor furniture to their website, including accents.  I was delighted to see this entire set up…

These items are a part of the Ventura outdoor collection.  The outdoor sofa is $1899 and the pillows range from $29.95-$39.95.  I love this particular style of furniture and have always wanted a dark wicker style with bright accents.  The price is quite hefty, though we’re not thinking of creating an outdoor space for this summer.  I’m hoping to maybe pick up the pillows and search Target and Walmart for furniture knock offs.  Crate & Barrel outlets also offer some great deals on items that were previously in stores.

Whenever we manage to afford an outdoor space, I’m hoping it is beautiful in color, happy and lovable, just like my Sunny was.  Though not everyone who sits on it will know the happiness the color orange brings, it will be another way to make my house a home and feel like Sunny was able to move with us.